Can economy weather our changing weather?

On a recent weekend night, the owner of a popular Monroe restau­rant stared at empty seats and an empty parking lot.

At a large retailer across town, the aisles that normally bustle on a Saturday were desolate.

The same was true for some popular stores and restaurants in Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany.

Meanwhile, well-heeled but winter-weary tour­ists with Canadian, British and German accents were packing Caribbean resort beaches, fleeing rough weather in their hometowns. Such are the less­than- obvious but more-than-substan­tial impacts of one of the harshest winters in recent memory.

Consider that in the United States alone, it’s estimated that the harsh winter has cost $30 billion so far.

U.S. food and retail spending dropped .4 percent in January from December. National Retail Federation chief economist Jack Kleinhenz said the harsh winter weather is masking economic performance due to extreme tem­peratures causing a slowdown in retail sales.

“Following a solid holiday sales season, it seems that many con­sumers decided to take a break from the stores and shopping malls this January in an attempt to avoid winter weather,” said NRF President Matthew Shay. About 46 percent of Michigan retailers said sales were way down from a year ago, largely due to frigid and snowy weather.

Meanwhile, home prices in the United States, recovering nicely since the recession, fell for the second straight month in January from prior year periods. Analysts said it was mainly due to the brutal cold. Few people have wanted to look at a house in recent months, unless it was in Montego Bay.

If you live in southeast Michigan, you can feel sorry for yourself be­cause the area was hit with record cold and snow.

In the Detroit area, total snow for the season has neared a record high of about 80 inches.

But if you live in southeast Michigan, don’t feel too sorry for yourself. In Gaylord, a record 177 inches already has fallen.

We haven’t been alone in the United States when it comes to bad weather. Horrific winter weather also has hit the United Kingdom and much of Europe, causing a boom in travel to warmer climes, boosting rates.

The immediate impact on the global economy might not be ad­equately calculated. But the scary thing is that we might be in for more harsh winters for a while.

You might ask, “ Whatever happened to global warming?”

Well, scientists say that’s exactly what caused this freakish winter weather in the United States and elsewhere around the planet.

The jet stream, they say, has been pushed farther south due to gradually rising temperatures in the Arctic.

That has forced cold fronts farther south, causing a severe winter in places where no one knows the meaning of long-johns.

Consider that while we’ve had record-low temperatures, Alaska — which should be cold in winter — has been having a series of unusually warm winters.

This changing weather pattern means that more harsh winters are likely in the northern hemisphere, chilling the winter economy for some years to come.

Thomas Dail, a U.S. Commerce Department spokesman, said that weather can have an economic impact in several ways. “One aspect is that we do sometimes see weather affecting household purchases of energy,” he said, adding “there may be decreases in spending elsewhere.”

If you spend more than usual on home heating — despite lower natural gas prices — that means you’ll have less disposable income to spend on restaurant meals, groceries, La-Z-Boy chairs or automobiles.

Not only could routinely brutal winters change the dynamics of the economy in many countries, at the very least it might mean fewer lower-wage jobs, less personal service jobs and, frankly, less customer service.

The reason? Those jobs often are most affected by inclement weather. Business executives, professional service workers, engineers and many other kinds of employees often can work from home or are given the latitude and ability to telecommute, especially during foul or dangerous weather.

Store sales clerks, restaurant help, even maintenance workers and childcare providers often are under demands to show up for work at all costs or lose pay.

So if the forecast for continuing harsh winters comes true, the larger question might be whether the world economy can weather the weather without substantially altering the economic equation, including changing work habits for employees, declining levels of customer service due to short staffing and customer service that fails to meet expectations.

At the least, it might mean fewer businesses, fewer jobs and a continuing winter-related chill on economic activity in the years ahead.

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